Article: Stroman a little like Maddux

[mini]

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=24627

There is an interesting chart showing Stroman's release point for each type of pitch (I don't know how to copy it here...

This tenet of pitching builds on the earlier quote about trying to make each pitch look the same coming out of the hand. Maddux was an expert in keeping his pitches looking exactly the same until that aforementioned late break. This is something Stroman has going for him because, by and large, his pitches don’t move an exceptional amount. They move, but it’s a late, hard break.

[satyr9]

First, thanks for the link.

Second, comparing anything to Maddux is the worst.

Third, writing about Stroman's and/or Maddux's release point and late break can be done without ever mentioning them as comps for each other and you can quote Maddux in any piece about pitching without him being involved in the piece so there was no need other than to piss us all off. And they know it.

Fourth, this is all good news (and that pitch chart and mix is fantastic), but because they breathed a Baseball God's name in this article it puts the cart 2000 miles before the horse. Stroman has, quite literally, ALL the adjustments to make and offseasons, with their magical powers of creation and destruction, to survive before we'll know if the things they see will be defining parts of Stroman's delivery and mix. The league just saw him, they'll figure some things out and he'll have to prove whether he can go the next 40 rounds of adjustments in the bigs. It's a great jump off for a career and nice insights about what's bringing him success though.

[torontoaces04]

...was hoping for Sandy Koufax, but I'll take it.